From Janitor to Astronaut: A Survival Guide
The Chosen One
By: Karen Walker (Serris)
Beta/Edited: Stephanie Watson (SLWatson)
2000



Joel Robinson had been working as a janitor at the Gizmonics Institute for longer than he had imagined he would.  When first arriving there, the slightly short, thin blond man was confident that he would get the job, and a call from the Personnel Director confirmed the little man's thoughts.  He was not only the best man to clean up the place, but he also figured that he would be able to work his way up along the lines of people until he was the head of a department and had his own lab.

There was no doubt about it; Joel was an inventor.  Not only was he an inventor, but he was a creator, which was all the better.  Throughout his childhood, Joel had taken apart every piece of mechanical junk he could find.  Old VCRs were sacrificed for the good of a calculator that was on it's last legs, and televisions were torn down the their bare skeleton bits just so the little boy could understand how they worked.

Despite his childhood wonderings and a college degree, he still couldn't find himself with a job that paid better than $7.85 an hour.  Honestly, he didn't think that the pay was all that bad since he worked twelve hours a day and did not have to do much more than mop floors and clean up spilled chemicals.  Sure, the job had it's hazards, but if handled right, it was the easiest job in the world.

Adding to the fact that Joel didn't mind his job too much, he was also given the right to use any discarded piece of machinery that the scientists at the Institute didn't need.  Objects such as high powered microscopes were left behind because their light bulbs had burnt out, and boxes full of computer motherboards were just pushed out into the hallway for disposal.  Being the innovating man that he was, Joel always snapped up such treasures the moment he found them.

Every afternoon seemed the same to the inventor as he came into the large building.  He'd step in out of the cold, drop his things off at the locker he had been given, and look at the work roster for the day.  Most of the time he was stuck cleaning the hallways, but unluckily, the Tuesday he was hoping to leave to rest was chalked full of cleanup in the Forrester Lab.  Ugh... he extremely disliked having to clean up the mess of the green-suited nut, but a job was a job, and he was only able to shake his head while he set down the clipboard.

Picking and choosing his cleaning equipment from his closet, Joel equipped his cart for nearly anything the Doctor could throw his way.  He had hazard cleanup materials, bleaches, buckets, mops, and every other piece of paraphernalia he could fit onto the janitorial cart.  Then, whistling a no-name song, he proceeded down the hallway to the lab where Dr. Clayton Forrester performed his experiments for the Gizmonics Institute.

With tousled hair and a bit of a bored expression laying on his features, Joel opened the door and stepped into the lab, the smell of sulfur immediately invading his nose.  Wincing at the sharp odor, he pressed farther into the room, finding the resident scientist and his assistant at a table, mixing chemicals.  This was the ninth day in a row the builder was assigned to the smelly lab, and he didn't like that at all.  Still, he smiled and started to take things off the cart, hoping that it wouldn't take too long for him to finish the cleanup.  "Afternoon, sirs," the mild janitor said, dipping the mop into the bucket of soapy water.

The two scientists across the room jumped at the sound of Joel's voice, both turning to sneer at the smaller man.  Dr. Forrester wore a green labcoat with the familiar Gizmonic's "G" over the pocket, while his black clothes underneath made the rings around his eyes all the darker.  Squinting through a pair of plastic, green framed glasses, he spoke, "Ah, Joely-poley!  Glad to have you back for another day of cleanup."  The scientist sneered and stood, brushing some blue powder off of his hands.  His hair stood on end, while a streak of white passed through the tangled mess of hair and shot down diagonally through his mustache.

"Glad to be here," Joel muttered, somewhat unenthusiastically.  "What can I clean up for you now?" he asked, setting the mop aside and shoving his hands deep into the pockets of the maroon jumpsuit he was issued to wear.

"Well, there's a little flesh-eating virus that dribbled onto the ground," Dr. Laurence Erhardt, Forrester's weasley assistant replied.  Erhardt was a shorter man than the lead scientist, and wider.  His hair was dark and brushed slightly better, but his eyes were small... black and beady, surrounded by equally obtrusive black glasses.  Laurence, better known as Larry, had a voice that sent chills up Joel's spine; a cold, high pitched squeal that put pigs to shame, and every moment he talked, the inventor would be soon wincing, ever so slightly.

Forrester laughed slightly, crossing his arm.  He was completely oblivious to the remaining powder that stuck to the sleeves of the neon labcoat as he stepped forward a few steps. "No, no... that can wait.  Tell me, Robinsoaps-and-suds," the older man grinned, another of his name parodies able to enter into the conversation, "how would you like to clean out the new satellite?"  Behind him, Erhardt sat in his seats, wispy giggles emanating from his black suited body.

Joel blinked a few times, trying to figure out if he had stumbled into the wrong lab, before checking his surrounding and confirming the correct destination.  "As in go inside and clean all those high-tech, sophisticated systems?" The inventor asked, a hint of excitement creeping into his usually mellow voice.

"Of course, boobie!  What did you think we meant?" Clayton snapped, his face a bit redder than normal.  He forced himself to calm down and stepped over to the inventor, putting a lanky arm around Joel's bony shoulders. "We wouldn't trust any other janitor in the building to do such a delicate job," he prodded.

"That's great!" Joel exclaimed, looking over to the scientist.  "When do I get to start?"

"Any time you like,"  returned Forrester, giving Dr. Erhardt a nod and turning Joel back out towards the door. 

Joel Robinson grinned to himself, letting the doctor lead him out the door of the lab.  He was finally getting the break he wanted; he was actually going to see the insides of a satellite that would be launched into space.  Looking back over to Clayton, still a bit surprised, the inventor grinned. "This is no joke, right?  You're not going to take me back down to the basement for another of those green, slimy spills, are you?  Because the roster said that I was in your lab today, and that's where I have to stay."

Forrester gave his shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "No need to ramble on, my little be-jumpsuited friend." The doctor reached an arm out to open the doors to the huge launch bay where the satellite was housed. "Would we ever steer you wrong?"

Joel hadn't even heard the question that was posed to him as he stared in awe at the giant satellite that lay dormant in the bay.  For some reason the satellite was shaped like a dog bone, but no one seemed to think of it as an extravagant thing from the people at Gizmonics.  Across some catwalks a sign was hung, "Satellite Sirius" written in bold red letters across a yellow background.  The small man just grinned, wondering what types of sophisticated systems the space craft held.

"So, are you ready to get cleaning?" Clayton asked, moving over to flip a giant light switch.  All along the huge hanger bay lights flipped on and hummed noisily.  Watching the young man, he snickered quietly to himself, crossing his arms.

The inventor was just completely amazed by the sight before his eyes.  Taking his steps towards the enormous metal creature, he pushed down the lever that opened the only entrance and exit to the whole Satellite Sirius that was designed for people.  Every other way into the ship was either reserved for other craft or cargo.  Moving up the stairs, however, an idea struck him and he turned, looking to Dr. F. "I have the perfect thing to clean his baby just right," Joel announced, and ran back through the door, passing Erhardt, and down the hall.

Larry stood next to his boss, arms crossed as well. "Think he suspects anything, Clay?"  He asked, face scrunched up like a mouse sniffing a piece of food.

"Not a thing." Clay smiled, looking around the bay.  "Let's get upstairs before he gets back."  Then, stepping over to the elevator, him and Laurence moved inside and let the door close, pushing the button for the control room, housed two floors above.

Not a moment later, Joel ran back into the bay with an accordion type device hanging from around his neck.  Attached to the side of the invention was a vacuum cleaner attachment, and Joel looked around for Dr. Forrester, a grin playing on his lips.  Not finding him, or his assistant anywhere in the area, Joel shrugged and figuring they had returned to their lab, he stepped up into the Satellite Sirius.

The inside of the sophisticated satellite wasn't as impressive as Joel had imagined it.  The bridge was down a corridor, and all that was there was a console and three colored buttons in front of a door, which the ever familiar Gizmonic's symbol was outcropped from the rest of the door.

Bending down to look underneath the console, Robinson noticed a few wires hanging down from a panel.  It looked almost as if the satellite wasn't quite finished, but he was sure that he had heard it was completed and just awaited launching.  Standing once again, the small man took his contraption and began cleaning all of the nooks and crannies on the bridge, whistling as he worked.

A good twenty minutes passed, and suddenly an uneasy feeling swept over the janitor.  Something didn't seem right to him, but he shrugged it off as some awkward effect of the excitement and went back to work.  Noticing a small piece of torn cloth on the floor, he knelt down to pick it up, studying the bright green fabric with a baffled look on his face.  He hadn't recalled Dr. Forrester working on the satellite before. 

Down the hall a slam rang through the whole ship, causing Joel to jump to his feet and look around.  Maybe it was one of the engineers doing a late night check on the ship.  Afraid they might think he wasn't supposed to be snooping around, Joel started back to work, finding that to be the only good reason for him to be there.  It wasn't until the whole satellite began to shake that Joel figured that his uneasy feeling had some merit to it.

Looking around with a panic-stricken expression on his face, he ran through the possibility that he had stumbled onto the Satellite Sirius just before it's launch, but he hadn't seen anyone in the control room, and what company would sent their craft into space in the afternoon?  His thoughts were cut short as the ship jutted into the air, throwing him to the back of the bridge.  The last thing he remembered was the stinging, warm feeling at the base of his skull, and then there was darkness.



Disclaimer:  The story concept was orginally by Lisa Jenkins, but I'm not trying to replace her fic, just give a different side of the situation.  In fact, I absolutely love her fic, I just couldn't bear the thought of it being unfinished.  Also, all characters belong to BBI and I am making no money from this fic.